Passion for Pizza: A Journey Through Thick and Thin to Find the Pizza Elite

By Craig Whitson, Tore Gjesteland, Mats Widén and Kenneth Hansen

“The authors showcase their passion for pizza in this intimate, behind the scenes tale about great artisanal pizza makers in Italy and America.” —Jonathan Goldsmith, owner, Spacca Napoli

Passion for Pizza celebrates the people, personalities, and stories behind one of the world’s favorite foods. Not only a cookbook and a history book, it is also a tribute to the people and places that makes this dish a global favorite. It is a beautifully illustrated volume by a team of award-winning authors, photographers, and designers who diligently followed the smell of great pizza to wherever it led them. Passion for Pizza begins in Italy, introducing readers to pizzaioli in places such as Naples, Rome, and Palermo. Next up is the pizza of New York, Chicago, and California, where it’s as essential as baseball and mom’s apple pie. The authors visit the people who produce the cheeses, tomatoes, flour, and other ingredients used in pizza making, showing the global reach of locally sourced foods. This exuberant tour guide digs deep into pizza culture with interviews of oven-makers, consultants, professors, acrobats, and journalists.

With more than fifty easy-to-follow recipes for individual pizzas and crusts, over forty pizzeria profiles, and twenty profiles of the people behind the pizza, this book inspires home cooks and aficionados alike.

“Passion for Pizza reaches deep into the heart and soul of pizza makers from around the world. One of the finest, most groundbreaking books ever written about pizza and its industry.” —Tony Gemignani, author of The Pizza Bible

“Can there be too much pizza? Or books about it? No and no. New on the pizza front is the gorgeously photographed Passion for Pizza.” —The Sacramento Bee

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781572847460

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 Pizza Angels AS

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without express written permission from the publisher.

Originally published in Norway by Kagge Forlag AS, 2014

All photographs by Mats Widén

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Whitson, Craig, author.

Passion for pizza : a journey through thick and thin to find the pizza elite / Craig Whitson, Tore Gjesteland, Mats Widén, Kenneth Hansen.

pages cm

Summary: A collection of 50 recipes for pizza featuring the history of and tributes to the people and places that make pizza a worldwide favorite--Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-57284-746-0 (ebook)

1. Pizza--Italy. 2. Pizza--United States. I. Title.

TX770.P58W48 2014

641.82'48--dc23

2014040236

Surrey Books is an imprint of Agate Publishing. Agate books are available in bulk at discount prices. For more information visit agatepublishing.com.

Tore and Craig took the initiative to write this book, which the entire team of authors has developed further. Kenneth contributed to concept development and art direction, while Mats took fantastic pictures and contributed his unique experience with food and cookbooks. Tore and Craig picked out who we were going to visit and where to go, in addition to overseeing the interviews, recipes, and the book’s contents. The text is penned by Craig, while Tore organized the baking for photos accompanying the recipes. This is how the book came into being. Help with proofreading, correcting and valuable help with translation by Thomas Muravez for Semantix.

To the angels, demons, saints, and fools

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

Section 1:Italy

Chapter 1:Naples

PIZZERIA DI MATTEO The Classic Pizza

PIZZARIA LA NOTIZIA Artigiani

PIZZERIA GINO SORBILLO The Largest Pizzaiolo Family in the World

L’ANTICA PIZZERIA DA MICHELE Pizza Originale

MARIA CACIALLI The President’s Daughter

PIZZERIA STARITA A MATERDEI The Pizzaiuolis’ Pizzaiuoli

MONICA PISCITELLI Neapolitan Pizza in the Blood

TRUE NEAPOLITAN PIZZA ASSOCIATION We Have Our Methods in Naples!

Chapter 2:Other Pizzas in Italy

ANTICO FORNO ROSCIOLI Pizza Roman Style

FORNO CAMPO DE’ FIORI Pizza from the Baker

SFORNO 200-Year-Old Sourdough

PIZZARIUM Street Food

PANIFICIO GRAZIANO SALVATORE Sicilian Pizza

ANTICA FOCACCERIA SAN FRANCESCO Pizza Topped with Bread Crumbs

PEPE IN GRANI Remember This Name: Franco Pepe

PIZZERIA I TIGLI With Truffles and Caviar

PANIFICIO PASTICCERIA TOSSINI Focaccia di Recco

SQUADRA NAZIONALE ACROBATI PIZZAIOLI Viva L’Italia

Section 2:USA

Chapter 3:New York

NEW YORK Gotham

KESTÉ PIZZA & VINO Pizza’s Mick Jagger

DI FARA PIZZA Italian Heroes

TOTONNO’S Pizza & Cookie

NEW YORK PIZZA SUPREMA We All Love NY Pizza

SAM’S RESTAURANT The Old Neighborhood

SCOTT’S PIZZA TOURS On the Road with Scott

PIZZA A CASA PIZZA SCHOOL Hitting the Books

BARI RESTAURANT & PIZZA EQUIPMENT Bari in the Bowery

EATALY NYC In Love with Food

Chapter 4:Chicago

CHICAGO Digging Deep

CHICAGO PIZZA TOURS Pizza Paparazzi

LOU MALNATI’S PIZZERIA Classic Chicago Pizza

SPACCA NAPOLI PIZZERIA Every Facet Is Significant

COALFIRE PIZZA Coal in Chicago

BURT’S PLACE Unforgettable Chicago Pizza . . . Just Outside of Chicago

JEFF RUBY Anonymous

Phoenix

Chapter 5:California

CALIFORNIA Fresh, Healthy, and Tempting

QUINTESSENTIAL CALIFORNIA Alice, Wolfgang, and Ed

PIZZERIA MOZZA À La LA

BIG MAMA’S & PAPA’S PIZZERIA Everything Is Bigger in America

GJELINA AND GTA (GJELINA TAKE AWAY) Pizza in Venice Beach

UNA PIZZA NAPOLETANA From Naples to Jersey to San Francisco

TONY’S PIZZA NAPOLETANA Pizza Extravaganza

A16 Pizza & Wine

DEL POPOLO Minimalist Pleasure on Wheels

PIZZERIA DELFINA Pizza Missionaries

Section 3:Ingredients and Equipment

Chapter 6:Ingredients

THE BEST PIZZA IS MADE FROM THE BEST INGREDIENTS

FLOUR

TOMATOES

CHEESE

OLIVE OIL

CURED MEATS

BASIL

Chapter 7:Equipment

MUST-HAVE TOOLS OF THE TRADE

OVENS

Section 4:Recipes

Chapter 8:Let’s Make a Pizza

BEFORE YOU START

Chapter 9:Dough Recipes

CREATING A GREAT FOUNDATION

OUR FAVORITE DOUGH

NEAPOLITAN DOUGH

THE WET ONE DOUGH

NEW YORK SICILIAN DOUGH

CLASSIC NEW YORK DOUGH

CHICAGO DEEP-DISH DOUGH

Chapter 10:Sauce Recipes

SAUCES

SIMPLE IS OFTEN BEST TOMATO SAUCE

LA SALSA (COOKED TOMATO SAUCE)

Chapter 11:Pizza Recipes

Pizza Marinara

Pizza Margherita Veronese

Pizza Margherita La Casa

Calzone Fior di Latte

Pizza Fritta

Verdure Sulla Pizza

Pizza Quattro Stagioni

Focaccia with Cherry Tomatoes

Sfincione

Scampi with Pesto Pizza

BBQ Pizza

Pizza with Ham and Mushrooms

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

Focaccia with Rosemary

Stefano Ferrara’s Pizza with Potato and Ham

Pizza Primavera

Pizza Lardo, Pepe Nero, e Pecorino

Pizza Quattro Formaggi

Pizza Caiazzo

Pizza Salsiccia e Cipolla

Pizza Imbottita con Salsicce e Friarielli

Dominick DeMarco’s Pizza

New Haven Apizza Tomato Pizza

New York–Sicilian Hybrid Pizza

Panna Cucina

Cheese Pizza

Pizza Napoletana

Aloha Pizza

New Haven Clam Pie

Il Fiore Delle Donne

Kesté’s Pistacchio e Salsiccia Pizza

Cali-Zone

Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza

Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza

Tony G’s Honey Pizza

Norgesvenn Pizza

An Oklahoma Boy’s Pizza

Green and Mean Pizza

The Big Easy Pizza

CAJUN SEASONING

CAJUN MUSTARD SAUCE

Rome Antics Pizza

Grekenland Pizza

LAMB SAUSAGE

Blue Pizza

ONION JAM

Tore’s Breakfast Pizza

Pizza Cipolle e Parmigiano-Reggiano

Spring Swing Pizza

Pizza Aglio, Olio, e Peperoncino

New Old El Paso Pizza

Hot Salami Pizza

Pizza al Tonno

Mats’s Great Lake Pizza

Pizza with Brussels Sprouts

Bonata

Pissaladière

Rolled-Up Calzone with Ricotta and Salami

Smokin’ Salmon Pizza

DILL OIL

Il Mantuano

Pecan Pizza Pie Anno 2013

CARAMEL SAUCE

Nutella Alla Spacca Napoli

Dessert Pizza with Chèvre

Smoked Mozzarella

Chile Oil

Sour Cream Dip

Pizza Seasoning

Pickled Red Onions

Pesto

Grilled Red Peppers

Salsiccia

Sausage

Hot Italian Sausage

RESOURCES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

FOREWORD

DOES THE WORLD REALLY NEED ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT PIZZA?

Countless pizza cookbooks have been published. The history of pizza’s origins is also richly presented in book form. The Internet is teeming with recipes, advice, tips, and opinions on numerous websites and blogs. All of which begs the question: Does the world really need another book about pizza?

Tore Gjesteland and Craig Whitson think it does. Confirmed pizza aficionados, Tore and Craig have known each other for years. Together with Chef Trond Moi, they participated in the unofficial world championship of pizza baking in Las Vegas in 1998. The trio won the contest for their dessert pizza, which was a variation of a pecan pie. The following year they released the book JazzPizza, which contained recipes they had developed for the competition, as well as other favorite recipes.

In 2011, Craig and Tore were invited to a summer party by a mutual friend. The host made a variety of pizzas in his wood-fired oven, and the conversation naturally turned to pizza. As it happened, Craig had started a book about pizza, and Tore was in the early stages of his own book project on the same topic. They joined forces and created the book together along with a third friend, Kenneth Hansen.

After much talk about recipes and what is right and wrong in the pizza world, they decided to find out the following: What stories have not yet been told about pizza? The authors determined that there was a need for a book of stories from behind the scenes in the pizza world. The book would show pizza lovers the amount of work that goes into the making of their favorite dish.

Fast-forward to spring 2012. In monthly meetings that followed, the trio explored the pizza world. The Swedish photographer Mats Widén, who had worked previously with Kenneth, then came on board—and the trio became a team of four. Together, they started planning trips to Italy and the United States. Great pizza and pizza connoisseurs can of course be found elsewhere in the world, but there was no question that the book would focus on the two most important countries for pizza: the United States and Italy.

No one knows for sure where pizza comes from, and it would be great if this book could tell the world who started it all, or if there were a prehistoric drawing of the first pizza baker, perhaps dressed in animal skins, with a club in one hand and the very first pizza gripped proudly in the other. But in truth, there is no such thing as the one original pizza on which all others are based. The idea probably sprang to mind spontaneously in many places across the world, because it’s a short jump from harvesting grain to using fire to make some bread and then topping or filling it with something good—that is the very definition of a pizza.

There is no such thing as the one original pizza on which all others are based.

It can certainly be argued that Naples is the center of the pizza universe, but the Neapolitan pizzaioli are not the only ones who are passionate about pizza. Some of the best pizzas come from the strangest places, such as Phoenix, Arizona, where brothers Chris and Marco Bianco and their team make one of America’s most sought-after pizzas. And in Caiazzo, Italy, Franco Pepe has dedicated his whole life to pizza. Every morning he makes dough based on the weather, and after lunch he puts on his finishing touches before the customers arrive.

Pizza bakers pride themselves on making the perfect dough, experimenting with different toppings, and baking their inventions to perfection, but the producers of cheese, tomatoes, flour, and other ingredients also play an important role in the final result. Let’s also not forget the producers of wood, gas, coal, and electric ovens, who build their products according to exactly defined standards and in line with the traditions and innovations made by many generations of oven designers. The world of pizza includes a variety of occupations such as restaurant owners, farmers, people delivering pizza, historians, journalists, and people repairing pizza equipment. All these and many more are included in this book.

In their travels, the authors have seen how important traditions and family affiliations are. In the pages of this book, you will get to meet several of the most highly respected pizza families around the world, including the Sorbillo, Bari, Starita, Malnati, and Barlotti families, as well as many more. These pizza professionals, alongside competitive bakers and other individuals, have dedicated their lives to producing the perfect dough, a specific type of cheese, or simply the world’s best pizza, day in and day out. This is their book.

In addition to behind-the-scenes insights, this unique book also offers information about ingredients, equipment, and techniques, as well as recipes for the very best pizzas. The world’s best pizza bakers have provided this information, and their recipes and tips will help you create pizza you’ve only dreamed about making, in your own oven at home with a few simple tools and techniques.

As devout pizza lovers, we have created this book with reverence. Along the way, we have constantly gotten to experience what true craftsmanship is (artigianale in Italian). Behind every pizza, there are skilled people who produce the ingredients, manufacture the equipment, and bake the pizzas that we all know and love. We had high expectations when we started the book—and all of them were fulfilled. We are immensely pleased to share our experiences with you.

Sit back and join us on an unforgettable culinary adventure!

Tore, Kenneth, Mats, and Craig

INTRODUCTION

OUR FIRST ENCOUNTERS WITH PIZZA

Blood, Sweat, and Tears In the early 1960s, I was playing with my new friend Misha at a playground in Stockholm. We were both seven years old and were to start school together in the fall. I remember that there was a scent of cherry and lilac in the air. It’s peculiar when I think about it today, especially because I can remember that particular scent, but I can’t recall which of us started the altercation. Suddenly we started to fight—over what, I couldn’t tell you. With neither aim nor forethought, I hurled a tin soldier at Misha with all my might. It lodged itself into his cascade of black hair, which soon became quite red in color—and a shocked, screaming Misha disappeared down the hill toward Hälsingegatan.

When I got home, my mom ordered me to get myself cleaned up, put on a new shirt, and come with her to Misha’s house to apologize. The sign on the door had a foreign name, which turned out to be Italian. Misha’s dad opened the door, and boy, was I relieved when I saw that he was not angry. Misha came out, proud as a peacock, with a large white bandage and three stitches in his head. He too was neither angry nor upset. All I had to do was shake his hand and apologize.

To my astonishment, I was invited to a party at Misha’s house the following Saturday. When I returned to his home, I discovered a table covered with several platters of a thin kind of bread with red sauce on top. Nowhere did my searching eyes spy the cake or cinnamon rolls that I was expecting. Just as clearly as I remember the scent of cherry and lilac that fateful day a week before, I remember the wonderful aroma and flavor of pizza! It smelled delicious and tart with tomato and spices and something I could not identify, but which I now assume was basil or perhaps sardines and garlic. There was no cheese. The bread was both crunchy and slightly chewy. I had never tasted anything like it. The pizza had the same effect on me as M&M’s: once I started eating, I couldn’t stop.

It was eight or nine years later that I had my next pizza experience; I was graduating from ninth grade. My friends and I ordered pizza from a new pizza restaurant in the neighborhood. The food that we received came in greasy boxes that smelled of wet cardboard and was made with canned mushrooms, canned ham, and a metallic-tasting tomato sauce the taste of which revealed it had to be canned. The crust reminded me of the box it came in more than anything else. The tough and stringy cheese got stuck in my throat. After that experience, my attitude toward pizza changed and I considered it nothing more than junk food.

Many years later, Kenneth Hansen asked if I could help create a book about pizza. At first, I politely declined, because I thought everything worth writing about pizza could be scribbled down, amounting to nothing more than a page. But I was so wrong!

On our first day in New York, we joined a multiday outing organized by Scott’s Pizza Tours. I was immensely skeptical, but then something happened on the third day: We visited Motorino and had a pizza with a fantastic crust topped with Brussels sprouts, pancetta, and pecorino. All my taste buds stood up to applaud, whistle, and shout, Hurray! And so it continued, with new taste sensations one after the other. When we came to pizza’s home country, Italy, it was like I had just fallen in love and had an open mind and a silly smile.

A few months later, I came home with 20 pounds of stone-milled Italian flour in my hand luggage. And I’ve been infected with an almost maniacal obsession to take a peek into almost every pizzeria I come across. I am no longer in love—I am, to some extent, in the grips of madness. Mats

It’s Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here This is just one recollection of the many encounters I’ve had with pizza—and it is one of the strangest.

With all the trips made, all the interviews conducted, all the images and text combined into this book, there is one particular experience that still sticks in my mind. To me, this encounter said something about what happens when everything is in a state of change.

When we visited this particular pizzeria, regular customers were not present because new people with a very different background and culture had moved into the neighborhood, and pizza was definitely not on the top of their to do list. The owner—the force behind the place—was proud and had not adapted to the arbitrary changes surrounding him. During the hour we were there, only one other patron came in, and she was old enough that she wasn’t exactly scarfing down pizza, cola, or anything else.

The pizzeria occupies a large space that is close to the street and is clearly marked with neon lights that glow in the windows between plastic flowers and translucent curtains. The booth seating felt typically American; the walls were full of ancient history, revealing days of glory past, and the host mostly rummaged about behind the bar.

We chose this place because it was typical of Brooklyn, with huge New York pizzas that were classic in content, presentation, and taste. They were tasty and quite good, actually. Louis Migliaccio of Sam’s Restaurant (see page 65), which was established more than 80 years ago, had a sign in the window, Pizza & Lunch, advertising what he offered. It was probably a recent, last-ditch attempt to draw guests in, but the emptiness of the place suggested the sign’s effectiveness was dubious at best. In addition to the solitary guest, the owner, and us, there must have been someone who worked in the kitchen, but we never saw him. It is easy for me to imagine him, though: appropriately overweight from eating up all the leftover dough and pizza sauce lying around, perhaps with cheese and a can of anchovies now and then; dressed in a low, white chef’s hat with a sweat brim, white apron, plaid pants, clogs, and with a few days’ or a week’s worth of stubble. He probably has to do everything in the kitchen, including washing the dishes, although there are not many of those anymore, so it’s of little consequence. He stands his ground but only looks forward to getting out of the door after closing time to show the owner, who does little more than poke around at the bar, that the chef takes his job seriously.

It is a kind of living theater of change, where the last man is left to turn off the light. The sell-by date has come and gone. A little sad, but it’s thought-provoking for others who follow the times and change along with them. If Sam’s is still open, I recommend you pay a visit. If Louis isn’t in the bar, then he is probably in the apartment above, where he lived when we were there. That is, of course, if he hasn’t sold it to the neighborhood’s newcomers. Kenneth

It Started with Potatoes Some might find it strange that I would eventually apply to study culinary arts at a vocational secondary school. Eighth grade for me often involved traumatic weeks of going to class and doing homework, after which I was then put to work peeling potatoes in a hotel basement in Sandnes, Norway. But even the darkest cellars and most blistered fingers failed to kill my dream of becoming a chef. (I thought, as it so happens, that the chef’s workweek was about eating tasty, expensive food.) A couple of years later, in 1974, I started culinary studies at the Bergeland secondary school in Stavanger.

Just up the street from the school, No. 28 Pizza Pub had just opened its doors. It was the first pizza restaurant in the district and had become very popular among the region’s youth.

I had barely heard of pizza at the time and had certainly never tasted it. The kitchen fan blew the previously unknown pizza smell right out onto the street and down to the school yard. I’ll never forget it! It was the best aroma I had ever known. And then I tasted my first slice—wow! It was absolutely the best thing I had ever tasted. The crispy crust, the tomato sauce, industrially made Scottish mozzarella, and seasoned salt. And last but not least, the irresistible aroma: dried oregano sprinkled on red-hot, brown-spotted mozzarella—straight from a Bakers Pride stone oven!

A few days after my first encounter with pizza, I got a part-time job at that very same pizza pub. In the evenings, there was a long queue outside the dark premises, which were located in the basement of a residential building at Bergelandsgata 28. The job quickly made me popular among my friends. The We know Tore! factor vastly shortened one’s waiting time. Likewise, a boxed-up No. 28 Special always did the trick at get-togethers before going out on the town or upon coming home afterward.

The pizza pub was incredibly popular for a long time in Stavanger, but it was eventually replaced by pizza chains and others who predicted that pizza was not just a flash in the pan. Today, it’s strange to think of the first pizza makers who stubbornly refused to remove garlic, or rather garlic powder, from the popular dish, even though the management of the city’s businesses resented the fact that their employees came back from lunch with garlic breath!

Take-out pizza was also a big thing, but there were no pizza boxes to take it home in. Large, white paper bags were puffed up by a special technique and sealed off with a stapler. At Burt’s Place in Chicago (see page 91), we saw the same bags—40 years later!—a delightful flashback.

No. 28 Pizza Pub was my first encounter with pizza, and it was the start of a lifelong relationship. Pizza has in many ways become my life. Sometimes I wonder how it could have happened, but then I close my eyes and think back. The first aroma. The taste. The surprise. An experience I am lucky to have been able to help to convey to others. And I have yet to meet anyone who does not like pizza! Tore

Shakey’s Rattle & Roll Needless to say, Oklahoma was never any Mecca for pizza—at least not like Naples and New York—and unfortunately for us Okies it was Phoenix (or was it San Francisco?) that took the prize for America’s best pizza. Who on Earth would have believed it possible?

I clearly remember the popular, local pizza places in Oklahoma City, in addition to all the Pizza Hut locations and the several pizza stands. We also had a famous pizza chain, Hideaway, which still supplies hungry Oklahomans with good pizza.

Let’s first take a look at American pizza in the 1960s and 1970s. The pizza itself was the superstar, but the tabletop extras were just as important: grated Parmesan cheese and red chili flakes, preferably served from a shaker with a metal top. You never see these shakers on tables